There were two people in C battery who were killed during Lam Son 719 and two wounded, all from the same incoming round. I didn't know them, but according to what someone else posted earlier their names were Whitney and Felton. Was one of them Rocky? Even though I didn't know them, I went to the memorial service which I remember fairly clearly. I remember a table with two pairs of boots and two helmets. One of the helmets had "FTA" written on the cover (along with lots of other stuff). There were two chaplains officiating, one Catholic and one Protestant. I remember the two of them standing around with cups of coffee, laughing and talking with some others before the start of the service and this made me angry. This wasn't just another church service, but a memorial for two people who had just recently been killed and I could have been one of them. I remember lying in a hole listening to the round go off and hearing someone calling for a medic. I took their deaths very personally and I wish that the chaplains would have been more somber and respectful. I expect that I am over reacting, but that is the way I felt then and still feel. In the 30 years since that incident, this is the first time that I mentioned it to anyone. |
